After eliminating the city of Apple Valley from the CIF-SS Eastern Division playoffs over the last two weeks, No.1-seeded Kaiser (12-0) hosts No. 4-seeded Wildomar Elsinore (10-2) in its second consecutive trip to the CIF semifinals.

Been there, forget that: Kaiser coach Phil Zelaya mentioned Kaiser’s semifinal appearance from last year once. Considering that it resulted in a 41-0 loss to Palm Springs at home, that’s about all the attention that last year’s semifinal really deserved.

“All I said was, `Well guys, we are back,’ ” Zelaya said. “That’s all that really needed to be said. Most of them were there last year and don’t need to relive what happened. Hopefully we’ll learn from it and not make the same mistakes.”

Turnovers were what killed the Cats last year against Palm Springs, giving Zelaya an easy talking point in prepping his team for the Tigers.

“Last year we were down 14, 21 points before we really even had a chance to start playing,” Zelaya said. “That’s something that we can’t afford to do again.”

Streetfighter: Kaiser has rolled through its schedule, winning its 12 games by an average score of 41-6. It’s done that by hitting its opposition in the mouth with a mean, physical defense and a powerful running game that boasts 4 or 5 tailbacks with differing strengths.

So the Cats know a hard-nosed team when they see one, and they expect the Tigers to be the most physical team they’ve faced to date.

“They are a team I really like to watch,” Zelaya said. “I tip my hat to them and think they do a great job. They run that Wing-T, double-wing offense right at you and hit you on defense. What’s not to like about that?”

While Kaiser sprinkles DaVonte Manning, Jimmy Awolesi, Riley Williams and Talib Isom in their running game, Elsinore relies mainly on senior Seth Middlemas for its rushing yardage. And for good reason – Middlemas has rushed for 1,528 yards and 14 touchdowns this season.

“They have a 1,500-yard running back that’s tough to stop,” Zelaya said. “They aren’t afraid to come at you, and they have the guys necessary to do that. It’s going to be fun to go against that.”

Quick strike: Brawling physicality will be the rule in tonight’s game, but that doesn’t mean the matchup between Kaiser and Elsinore will be strictly “three yards and a cloud of dust.”

Both teams have shown explosive abilities all season, putting them on display in their respective quarterfinal victories last weekend.

Kaiser’s big-play ability was manifested in Awolesi, who got the Cats’ 28-7 victory over Granite Hills started with a 41-yard touchdown run, and returned an interception 58 yards for a touchdown.

“You want to be able to physically wear down a team, but it’s important to have that quick-strike element in the offense,” Zelaya said. “It makes you that much harder to defend.”

Elsinore also used explosive, quick-strike plays to its advantage in its victory over Victor Valley, scoring 41 points in the second half to overcome a 24-3 halftime deficit for a 44-27 win.